Cultural Integration and the Gospel in Vietnamese Mission Theology

KimSon Nguyen has done all Vietnamese, not just Vietnamese Christians, a great service in explaining how the history of early Protestantism shows the struggles that took place as Christianity sought for a home in Vietnamese soil. Much of this history is difficult to read. However, this fascinating study goes further in suggesting ways forward as Christianity develops more and more as a Vietnamese religion, encompassing all of life and culture. It is a great story – it is a Vietnamese story.

Scott W. Sunquist, PhD
Professor of Missiology, President, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA

Radically evangelical, thoroughly contextual, deeply missional, and theologically and biblically syncretistic! How? Prior generations of evangelical scholars would never have been described in this way, but KimSon Nguyen represents the vanguard of mission theologians in the twenty-first century. Read this book to be challenged for the sake of the mission of God in a pluralistic and postcolonial global world.

Amos Yong, PhD
Professor of Theology and Mission, Dean, School of Theology and the School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California, USA

KimSon Nguyen relentlessly seeks to identify the unintended lopsidedness of Western evangelicalism planted in the East Asian context of Vietnam and offers tour-de-force proposals for an integrated mission theology that calls for serious reflection and correction. Its analysis of the religio-cultural dimensions of Vietnamese spirituality with its dual forces of “resisting and assimilating” is to be wrestled by all who care about mission in our global village in the twenty-first century.

Rev Linh H. Doan, PhD
President, Union University of CaliforniaSenior Pastor, Thanh Le Church, Anaheim, California, USA

1. Acknowledgements
2. Abstract
3. List of Abbreviations
4. Introduction
5. 1. Problem Statement
   2. Significance of the Study
   3. Context and Key Definitions
   4. Limitations of the Study
   5. Outline and Methodology
6. Chapter 1 East Asian Syncretistic Context
7. 1. Encountering Christianity
   2. 1. Daoism
      2. Philosophical Daoism
   3. Religious Daoism
   4. Confucianism
   1. Heaven
   2. The “Way” of Man
   3. Encountering Buddhism
8. Chapter 2 Contextualization in Christian Mission Theology
1. “Outsider” View
1. Communication
2. Interpretation
3. Syncretism
2. Alternative Evangelical View
1. Within Cultural Context
2. God’s Intention
3. Translatable Faith
3. Chapters 1 and 2 Conclusion
9. Chapter 3 Vietnamese Syncretistic Spirituality
1. Popular Animist Beliefs
1. Belief in the Twenty-Seven Spirits
2. Ancestor Veneration
2. Syncretistic Spirituality
1. Encountering the Three Teachings
2. Rationalizing the Essentials
3. Belief in Heaven and Other Folk Beliefs
3. Contextual Integrated Belief
1. The Way of Heaven
2. Unifying Spirituality
4. Chapter Conclusion
10. Chapter 4 Christian Missionary Movements in Vietnam
1. Early Accounts of Christianity
2. French Protestant Missions in Resurgence
3. Protestant Evangelization
1. From the Pioneering Stage to the National Church
2. French Protestant Mission Initiative.
3. Attitudes toward Vietnamese Socio-Cultural and Religious Contexts
4. Chapter Conclusion
11. Chapter 5 Christian Faith in Context
1. A Catholic Attempt at Addressing the “Three Teachings”
2. Protestant Missions in the Colonial Context
1. Christian Mission and Colonization
2. The Adjectives American and français
3. “Foreign” Faith: An Issue of the Vietnamese Evangelicals
1. “The Fourfold Gospel”
2. Evangelism and Conversion: Tension with the Culture
3. Fundamentalist Doctrines
4. Chapter Conclusion
12. Chapter 6 A Paradigm Shift Proposal for Vietnamese Mission Theology
1. Mission Theological Principles
1. Being Asian Evangelical
2. Early Christian Assimilation Efforts
3. Vietnamese Evangelical Mission Theology
2. God in Our Midst: A Vietnamese Concept of God
1. The Đạo
2. The Supreme One
3. God with Us: A Vietnamese Hermeneutic
1. Jesus Christ: The Incarnate God
2. The Church: The Center of God’s Purpose
4. Chapter Conclusion
13. Conclusion Theological Missiological Reflections
14. Appendix Inculturation vs Contextualization
15. Bibliography
16. Index of Names
17. Index of Subjects